Chapter 2

ANNALISE

My mother was twenty minutes late.

That was the only thought which filled my head while I watched every car that wasn't hers pull up in the drive in and then zoom off after.

Thankfully Knox and his crew had practice thereby preventing me from seeing his sick face… a minute late was almost like I was standing inviting untroubled.

My feet were aching where I stood by the school gate with my bag hanging from one shoulder alone.

Tomorrow I was going to find a way to deal with Knox and Mr. Danes' proposal without losing my shit.

Thoughts of Knox drifted off as yet another car that wasn’t mom zoned past me.

"Where's this woman?" I groused.

When she finally pulled into the drive in, the music blasting from her car reached me before her car did even before I even saw her.

It was something upbeat.

Something definitely too loud for four in the afternoon.

My head was already splitting.

For God's sake, this was noise pollution.

She leaned forward and opened the car door.

"Good afternoon," I greeted.

I climbed in the front and pulled the door shut.

"Hey, baby," she answered.

She did so without looking away from the screen of the phone propped right against the steering wheel for one bit.

I rolled my eyes.

How could she focus on her phone with that loud music in the background?

"Mom. You're on your phone."

She set it down.

Then she reached forward and adjusted the rear view mirror.

"I know," she whispered.

I bit back a retort as she ignited the car and finally pulled out of the school without answering me, the music going in the background.

I leaned forward with a groan in order to turn the damn volume down myself.

That was when I saw them—the two large suitcases sitting in the back seat.

They were wedged together there as if they had been packed in a hurry.

I turned around slowly.

"What are those?" I demanded.

She gave me a quick glance.

"Our things?" she asked.

"What do you mean by our things?" I demanded with raised brows.

She ignored me and merged into traffic.

"Mum!" I snapped.

She tapped her fingers impatiently on the wheel without a glance at me.

"We're moving, Annalise."

My eyes darted in confusion.

"We're what?"

"Moving. Today."

I stared at her as something hot climbed up higher on the back of my neck.

"Today?"

Disbelief was evident in my tone.

"And you're telling me today? When were you going to say something?"

She hissed.

"Come on Annalise, I'm saying something to you now," she groaned.

A dry scoff left my lips.

"Mom."

I pressed my hand flat against the dashboard.

"I go to school every day. I come home every day. I am with you everytime I am not at school!" I yelled. "And you couldn't find one minute in the last week however long to tell me that we were moving?"

She exhaled through her nose as though my frustration was valid, "I knew you would react like this."

My eyes rolled hard in their sockets.

"Of course I would because this is literally so insane."

My voice cracked on the last word.

I hated that it did.

"Where are we even going at this point?" I hissed. "And what about our old house?"

She was quiet for a second too long.

My eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Mom," I drawled, "What about the house?"

There was a short pause.

"I sold it."

Tension stole the atmosphere and the car instantly felt smaller.

"Oh God," I gasped.

Cold chills ran down my spine at the realisation that she had sold our old house without telling me where we were moving too.

Which meant that I couldn't even go back home if I didn't like our current unknown destination.

Frustration rushed through me.

"Oh my God!" I repeated.

I sat back in my seat, just looking out the window because I didn't trust what my face was doing.

She pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park.

"Annalise."

She turned to look at me.

"You sold the house," I started to say slowly, "without telling me anything?"

A dry scoff escaped from her lips.

"You don't own the house."

Forcefully, I leaned forward.

"Why do you mean by that!" I screamed.

I was livid.

"I live in it mum! I live in it."

My chest was heaving now and she gave me a lazy once over.

I looked down at my laps.

"Stop behaving like a spoilt brat," she spat with a clipped voice.

I turned to face her.

"So what now?" I threw it at her. "Where exactly are we going?"

She shrugged.

"Somewhere better."

My brows rose.

"Mum, that is not an answer."

Her voice went flat.

"If you want to sit on this road with your suitcase and find somewhere better on your own, I will pull it out right now. Otherwise, you better sit still and let me drive."

My eyes studied her face.

She meant it.

Every word.

I turned back to the window and kept my mouth shut, saying nothing.

We drove into the elite part of the city where the houses were bigger and more luxurious.

When she turned through a set of iron gates and parked inside a compound that was larger than my entire old street, I understood that this was not a short visit.

She turned off the engine.

Then she just sat there with her fingers tightly wrapped around the steering wheel as if life depended on it.

She was nervous too.

The way her chest rose and fell was a tell tale sign that she was most likely preparing herself for something yet to come.

But will nonetheless.

"Mom," I started.

She turned to me.

"Behave," she said quietly. "Please, Annalise, I will need you to behave tonight."

My brows rose.

"Why? What's happening?"

She turned in her seat.

This time she looked at me properly for the first time since I had gotten in the car.

"I'm in love with him, Annalise. The man who owns this house. I want you to know that before we go in. Don't ruin this."

Something cold settled in my chest.

"How long have you known him?"

She looked away.

"We got married a few days ago at a private reception," she finally confessed.

She turned to look at me as I burst into laughter.

"Annalise I know—" she started.

I cut her off.

"Love?"

I leaned forward.

"Mum, how long did you even know him before doing all of this?" I ground out.

She hissed.

"That's none of your business."

My gaze rounded.

"None of my business?"

A scoff left my mouth.

"You are my mother and you just moved our whole life into two bags, Your new husband is going to be my business!"

"Watch your mouth!"

Rage boiled in my stomach.

"You are a golddigger!" I snapped.

Tears built at the corner of my eyes, "That's what this is about, isn't it?"

Her hand moved before I could see it coming.

The slap landed across my cheek sharply, the impact throwing my head to the side.

I gasped.

The inside of the car went completely silent.

I pressed my fingers to the part of my face which bore the impact and slowly looked at her.

"You hit me," I said.

My voice came out smaller than I wanted.

"Mom, you actually hit me because of a man?"

Her expression cracked.

She opened her mouth and then she closed it.

And she was soon reaching for my arm with a remorseful look on her face.

"Annalise, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I just lost it for—"

I flinched back.

"Save it!"

A tear rolled down my cheeks.

She sighed and made to speak again just as a knock sounded on the window.

We both went still.

My mother dropped her hand and smoothed her hair with two quick strokes.

I watched the way her whole face rearranged itself in the time it took me to breathe.

"Behave," she whispered.

Then she unlocked the door.

She stepped out and went straight into the arms of a tall man waiting outside.

I took deep breaths before I moved.

When I stepped out, I was greeted by the man with a warm handshake.

He had a kind handsome face.

And I forced a smile so he wouldn't know I hadn't just been crying thirty seconds ago.

My mother smiled up at him like the last five minutes hadn't happened.

He said he was glad to finally meet me.

I said nothing worth remembering.

He called for someone to carry our bags and led us toward the front entrance.

I walked behind them with my cheek still smarting from the pain.

My stomach was still knotted.

And eyes watched the back of my mother's head as she laughed at something that he had said to her.

Then he stopped walking.

"Watch where you're going," he suddenly said, jerking me from my thoughts.

My eyes snapped to him because of the way his voice had shifted into something sharper.

But he wasn't talking to me.

He was talking to someone that past him.

My eyes followed, but my view was obstructed by one of the pillars.

So I stepped to the side to see past them.

There was a boy at the entrance with only his side profile visible to me.

He was tall—hands in his pockets.

Something about him felt familiar.

"Sorry, father," he said.

My whole body went cold.

Because the voice was one I would have recognized anywhere.

It was the same voice that had called me tic-tac that morning in the hallway.

The same boy who had wrapped his hand around my throat and smirked about it approximately six hours ago.

He looked past them at my gasp until his eyes finally found my face.

Knox?

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded at the same time he did.